My Pier Solar replacement cartridge has arrived!

Actually, it arrived on Saturday, but since I rarely publish posts on the weekend this is the first chance I've had to say anything about it.

I hate to say this, but I wasn't all that sure the guys at WaterMelon were going to keep their word and send me a replacement cart. A part of me thought I had been scammed, although in retrospect I guess that was kind of a silly thought to have considering I did receive the professionally produced case and manual.



As for when I'm finally going to be able to play this homebrew RPG, well, that'll probably have to wait until I can get my parents to ship me my Genesis or until I buy a Sega CDX (a sexy little system that I've wanted for quite some time).

For more information on Pier Solar, read this post or this post--or go to the game's official site, where you can order a copy, too, if you so choose.

Well, this sucks ...

Shortly after publishing this post earlier this year, I went ahead and pre-ordered a copy of the homebrew Genesis/Mega Drive game, Pier Solar.

It arrived a few weeks ago, but I didn't open it until today because, well, I don't have a Genesis at the moment. (I own one, but it's in the closet of my childhood bedroom--which is, oh, 2,000 or so miles away from my current bedroom.)

Anyway, when I opened it this morning--so I could ogle it and snap some photos of it--this is what I found:



Case? Check. Manual? Check. Poster and stickers? Check? Pier Solar cartridge? Er. Uh. Well...

I just contacted the folks at WaterMelon, the game's developer/publisher, so hopefully they'll respond shortly and either offer to send me a replacement or give me a refund.

The best 16-bit RPG you've never played, eh?

That's what one person over on neogaf.com is calling Pier Solar, a Genesis/Mega Drive RPG (recently) created by a team of coders that go by the name of WaterMelon Development.

According to the game's official website, it began life (in 2004) as a homebrew mini-game. Eventually, its developers decided to turn it into a full-fledged RPG in the vein of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Phantasy Star IV.

Another likely source of inspiration: Game Arts' Lunar series, as evidenced in the following video (especially the battle scene, which begins around the 4:45 mark):



Copies of Pier Solar can be pre-ordered here for $45. (Check out this discussion thread at neogaf.com for more information on this intriguing game.)